Transcript of Evening Wire: Gambling Scandal Rocks NBA & Mamdani Melts Onstage | 10.23.25

A massive gambling scandal rocks the NBA. The Trump administration strikes another drug boat, and Cuomo and Mamdani face off in the final mayoral debate. I'm Daily Wire executive editor, John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Thursday, October 23rd. This is Evening Wire.

A massive NBA gambling scandal erupted this morning, and it's already led to several arrests, including high-profile figures. Crane & Company host David Cohn Tell us the story.

The FBI arrested a player and head coach today as part of an investigation into illegal gambling. Miami Heat Point Guard Terry Rozier was arrested at a hotel in Orlando a few hours after his team played without him. Then news broke that Portland Trailblazer's head coach, Chauncey Billups, has also been taken into custody and charged in an illegal poker operation tied to organized crime. According to NBC, former Cleveland Cavaliers' player and assistant Assistant Coach Damon Jones was also arrested and charged in connection with illegal gambling. Fbi Director Cash Patel and the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern district of New York held a press conference on the gambling sting earlier today.

This is an illegal gambling operation and sports rigging operation that span the course of years. The FBI led a coordinated takedown across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing.

The charges and the arrest that were taken down across this country range from wire fraud, money laundering, extortion, robbery, illegal gambling. We're talking about tens of millions of dollars in fraud and theft and robbery across a multi-year investigation. The Trump administration carried out another lethal kinetic strike on a drug boat from South America. Daily Wire immigration reporter, Jennie Tear, reports.

Secretary of War, Pete Hexet, has revealed that the US carried out its eighth strike on an alleged drug smuggling boat on Tuesday. D dramatic video shows the long vessel buzzing through the Eastern Pacific before bursting into flames. Two smugglers were killed in the strike. Hexet said in a statement that the vessel was known to be involved in illicit narcotic smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking transit route and carrying narcotics. The strike was conducted in international waters, and both of the narco-terrorists aboard were killed. The illegal immigrant arrested over a fatal California crash that killed three people was in fact released to the US by the Biden administration in 2022. Daily Wire reporter Tim pierce reports.

Jashan Prit sing was arrested on Tuesday by the California Highway Patrol after the semi-truck he was driving smashed into slow traffic on a freeway in Ontario, causing an eight-vehicle pile up. Three people were killed and four others were injured. Investigators say sing had drugs in his system. He's now been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and driving under the influence of drugs causing bodily injury. Border Patrol arrested sing in March 2022 after he illegally crossed into California, then released him pending a court date, as Fox News first reported. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Wednesday, This is exactly why the Department of Transportation has withheld $40 million from California for failure to comply with our rules to protect drivers. We cannot allow our roads to be a dangerous place. The big New York City mayoral debate last night resulted in some fireworks and several viral moments. Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani has been leading in the polls, but he found himself under fire again and again from independent Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of the state, and Republican Curtis Sliwa. Here's one exchange between Cuomo and Mamdani that's gained a lot of attention.

You have never had a job. You've never accomplished anything. There's no reason to believe you have any merit or qualification for eight and a half million lives. You don't know how to run a government.

You don't know how to handle an emergency.

You've literally never proposed a bill. On anything that you're not talking about in your campaign.

Vice President J. D. Vance, slammed a former White House Press Secretary, Jen Saki, after she said his wife, Usha, needs to be, quote, saved from him. The VP has been in Israel all week discussing the ceasefire and hostage deal, and his wife has been with him. A reporter from Fox News asked Vance to comment on Saki's remarks. Here's his response.

I think it's disgraceful, but of course, the second lady can speak for herself, and I'm very lucky We are very lucky to have a wonderful wife. I know, or at least I hope that my wife feels the same about me, but we are very lucky to have this journey. I should say I'm very lucky to go on this journey with a very loving wife. We're going to keep on serving the country together I'm honored to have Usha by my side on this trip in particular, but always.

A radical left California lawmaker just launched a bid for Nancy Pelosi's seat. State Senator Scott Wiener, who's considered one of the most outspoken leftist members of the California State legislature announced his campaign yesterday. My family escaped fascism in Europe. I never thought the United States would slip into fascism like we're seeing today. San Francisco has always been on the right side of history. While Wiener did not name Pelosi in his launch video, it was posted just hours after Politico reported that Pelosi may announce her retirement soon. Some of the campaign points on Wiener's website include far-left LGBT issues and fighting against the Trump administration's immigration policies.

The FBI is reportedly tracking multiple threats of violence from last weekend's No King's protests. While the bureau does not historically confirm active investigations, a spokesman said the FBI is, quote, aware of multiple instances of No King's protesters, explicitly calling for violence, and is committed to investigating and pursuing such threats. This follows viral footage captured by independent and conservative journalists at the events. In one video, an activist in Chicago called for people to, quote, turn around the guns on this fascist system. These ice Asians are going to get shot and wiped out. Another protester in Seattle doubled down on a sign he carried which read, Would you like to kill Nazis with me?

Who's a Nazi? Steven Miller's a Nazi. So you're going to kill Stephen Miller? If I had a chance, yeah, I would. The man accused of brutally stabbing a Ukrainian woman on a Charlotte light rail train may face the death penalty. Daily Wire Assistant Editor, Andy Valdes, has the details.

The Carlos Brown Jr. Was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury on charges relating to the stabbing of 23-year-old Irina Zrutska. The murder suspect was indicted for committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, as well as a state charge for first-degree murder. Video of the brutal attack went viral in August and drew condemnation from around the country. President Trump even called for the death penalty in this case. Earlier For this month, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation known as Irina's Law, which would eliminate cashless bail and expedite death penalty cases. The Minnesota Supreme Court just gave a major lift to a male athlete who wants to compete against women. Daily Wire senior editor Joel Needler has the latest.

In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that trans-identifying male powerlifter J. C. Cooper should, in fact, have been allowed to compete against females. The court says that USA Powerlifting's policy, Categorically excluded men who identify as women, and that clashed with state law. The judges didn't bench the whole case. They sent it back to see if the League had a legitimate business reason behind their policy. But USA Power Lifting says it's about biology, not bigotry. Republicans in Minnesota called it, A heavyweight blow to women's sports and promised to press new rules next session. One thing's clear, this legal contest isn't over yet.

Was that enough puns for everyone?

This one was a heavy lift.

In another win For President Trump and the GOP, Republicans in North Carolina likely secured another US House seat for Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections. Dailywire Reporters' Actual has more. The Republican-controlled North Carolina House approved the new Congressional map yesterday. The current North Carolina House Delegation is made up of 10 Republicans and 4 Democrats, but the new map is projected to shift one of those seats over to Republicans. State law does not allow North Carolina's governor, Democrat Josh Stein, to veto the map, meaning the process is finished pending any legal challenges.

President Trump has urgent Republican-led states nationwide to draw new congressional maps that are more favorable to the GOP ahead of next year's midterms. Controversy is swirling in the main Senate race. Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner, who's trying to unseat Senator Susan Collins, says he unwittingly got a Nazi-aligned tattoo while on leave from the Marines in 2007. Platner described how he chose the design, which resembles a skull symbol used by Nazi SS officers in an appearance on Pod Save America on Tuesday.

We got very inebriated, and we did what Marines on Liberty do, and we decided to go get a tattoo. We went to a tattoo parlor in of the Croatia, and we chose a terrifying-looking skull and crossbones off the wall because we were Marines.

Plattner has said he only recently learned of the design's history, but his former campaign manager disputes that claim. She resigned from the campaign after discovering old Reddit posts in which the candidate disparaged police and rural white Americans while labeling himself a Communist. Reports also allege that he was involved in training an Antifa paramilitary organization. Plattner, who is endorsed by Bernie Sanders, posted a video on X Yesterday showing that the tattoo has now been covered.

Nfl Commissioner Roger Goodell confirmed that there are no plans to replace Bad Bunny as the halftime performer at Super Bowl 60. Daily Wire entertainment reporter Amanda Harding has Goodell made his first comments on the matter as backlash has grown against the Puerto Rican performer who only performs in Spanish and has been openly anti-ICE.

It's carefully thought through, Goodell said, of the performance by Bad Bunny, whose real name is Benito Ocasio. He understands the platform that he's on, and I think it's going to be exciting and a united moment. Bad Bunny's selection was controversial because of his past criticism of ICE, including his refusal to schedule any tour stops in the US due to supposed fears about his fans being nabbed by ice at his shows. The US citizenship test just became a bit more challenging. Starting this week, the test randomly draws 20 questions from a now larger bank of 128 possible questions. The applicant must get 12 correct answers to pass. The answers must be spoken out loud. John, I have a question for you from the new test. What year did women get the right to vote?

19th Amendment, and I'm thinking 1920-ish.

Correct. And bonus points for the amendment number. Good job.

All right. Always going for the extra credit. All right, those are your drive home updates. To learn more about these stories, go to dailywire. Com. And in case you missed it this morning, we covered some major stories, including Christian persecution, reaching a fever pitch in Nigeria, Russia saber rattling with a nuclear drill, and an illegal immigrant activist, allegedly ramming an ICE vehicle in Los Angeles. Thanks for tuning in. We'll be back tomorrow morning with another full edition of MorningWire.